Arid Northern Province to Expand Cloud Seeding for More Water

The moisture in the air may help north China's Shanxi province relieve its acute water shortage, experts said.

A group of scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences concluded after recently doing research in the province that exploiting water resources in the air can be a sustainable way to solve water scarcity in north China.

Based on advice of the scientists, the provincial government has made a six-year plan to develop weather modification technologies, mainly seeding clouds to increase precipitation. The province will strive increase its annual rainfall by 2 to 3 billion cu m a year.

Shanxi is among one of the most arid provinces in China, with about 4 million people and nearly 1 million head of livestock being affected every year. Dry weather also leads reduced grain harvest, local officials said.

Since the late 1980s, Shanxi has been seeding clouds to increase precipitation by 600 million to 800 million cu m a year.